Rangers wing Chris Kreider scratched two days after taking knee to head
Rangers left wing Chris Kreider skates against the Ducks at Madison Square Garden on Dec. 22, 2019. Credit: Kathleen Malone-Van Dyke
Chris Kreider was a full participant at the Rangers’ morning skate but was not in Monday night’s lineup against Dallas.
Kreider left Saturday night’s game in Detroit with what the Rangers said was an upper-body injury after taking a knee to the side of the head from teammate Mika Zibanejad.
With three weeks to go before the Feb. 24 trade deadline, the sight of Kreider leaving the ice in Detroit was particularly concerning. The left wing, who will be an unrestricted free agent this summer, is widely considered the No. 1 player available at the trade deadline. Given his likely market value as a UFA, the Rangers would be hard-pressed to fit him under the salary cap, and the likelihood is that he will be traded.
If management indeed has decided it will trade Kreider, team president John Davidson and general manager Jeff Gorton could play it safe and opt to keep him out of action until he is dealt. There are 10 games remaining before the trade deadline.
Kreider, 28, who played in the first 50 games, has 18 goals and 17 assists. He was hurt when he slid toward the goal line after falling in the offensive zone and Zibanejad tried to leap over him. But Zibanejad couldn’t clear him without inadvertently hitting him in the head with his knee.
Ice chips
Phillip DiGiuseppe, called up from AHL Hartford on Sunday, started in Kreider’s spot on the left side of Zibanejad and Pavel Buchnevich. Buchnevich ended the game on the fourth line as coach David Quinn shuffled his lines. “I didn’t like his game at all,’’ Quinn said . . . Micheal Haley was scratched along with goaltender Igor Shesterkin . . . The Rangers played their 7,000th game, including playoffs. Henrik Lundqvist, who started and was pulled after allowing four goals on 15 shots, has played in 1,012 of those games.
Colin Stephenson covers the Rangers for Newsday. He has spent more than two decades covering the NHL and just about every sports team in the New York metropolitan area.
